Mommy's home and Father's Day weekend

This is Christie posting under Markus' account so that I can show you pictures (I know that's why most of you come here). It's been a pretty big few days in our house.

I returned from my final trip to Indianapolis on Friday. I should've known that flying on Friday the 13th wasn't a good idea - my plane was struck by lightning twice. While we were in the air. I thought, my God, I'm going to die on what should've been my last flight home. Just my luck. I'm a pretty calm traveler, too, since I fly pretty often. Fortunately, the planes are engineered to withstand lightning strikes, though as a passenger seeing a pop outside your window and bright lights of pink/red/orange right near the engine, it's a little unnerving. Anyway, I made it home safe and sound; when Markus and Willa arrived, she gave me some leg kicks and giggles before she came out with "mama". First time ever, best thing I've heard from her so far ("Dada" was pretty cute, too). And after I'd been away for a week, what a treat. Here's a picture from that day (the ladies at daycare put the ponytail in her hair - guess it's long enough! I tried five times the next day and couldn't get it quite the same - they must be pros at doing squirmy kids' hair):

On Saturday, we did a few errands, nothing too exciting. We did, however, remember to take some pictures. Willa's drinking her morning milk, then we have some shots of her eating ravioli for dinner, and finally some pictures of her playing in the office. She had lots of playtime in there last week when she was home with Markus; she loves to crawl under the desk, peek out and smile, and then crawl in more to the little stool (for Mommy's short legs). She pokes around at the router (future IT professional) and then comes back out. She stood up against the chair and moved from there to the desk and back. Click on the photo to see the rest of the album.

20080614 - Eating and playing in the office

On Sunday, we celebrated Father's Day by going out for brunch and then having a barbecue with Markus' family. A great day, as seen in the pictures:

20080615 - Father's Day

Today, I did some shopping and bought Willa the next stage in sippy cups - the hard-top. She didn't quite get it, but did enjoy chewing on it. I took the no-spill valve out so that the milk just ran out and she liked that. In a few more days, I think she'll figure it out. After some snacks, we went out side to do walking practice. She loves to walk and tonight, she took a few steps only holding on to one finger. Previously, she would only take steps when she had a finger from each hand. Progress! Here are pictures from tonight:

20080616 - New sippy cup

And now you're all up-to-date! I'll probably have more pictures this week; Willa and I are spending the day together tomorrow, and my mom and sister are coming down. Then on Friday, Markus and I are going to take Willa to the zoo. Should be fun!

Cute girl

Let's not forget that just a few days ago our little girl was very HAPPY! These photos are evidence of a streak of happiness and optimism in our Willa.

Rolling!!

Smiling

Roaming!

Poor baby

Life has indeed required a bit more of our attention recently as Christie pointed out in her post. that obviously takes away from the time we would otherwise have to devote to this blog. That said, I thought I would share a few photos of a very sad little girl dealing with an allergic reaction to an antibiotic (theory). The face is itchy and her arms do feel bumpy. The rash started yesterday (2008-06-10) and we hope it will start looking and feeling better tomorrow (2008-06-12).

Eat your peas

I realized it's been a few weeks and lots has happened since we last wrote. Today, my mom asked if Willa still had just the three teeth (two bottom, the one new one on the top that had broken through recently). She actually has 8 now! May was a hardcore month of teething; hopefully it's over for a little while. Each time I looked, it seemed like I saw another one peeking out from the gumline.

Since she has so many chompers, as we call them, we've started giving her lots of different foods. We went to a Greek festival near our house (we love it - nothing beats home cooking by old church ladies) and she ate stuffed grape leaves, feta cheese, keftedes (meatballs), and part of my gyro. Later that weekend, we grilled barbecue chicken and she liked that - even with the spicy/zesty sauce. I made some ravioli and broccoli last week, also a hit. At one point she had pulled the ravioli apart and looked like she was an Italian pastry chef with lots of ricotta or cannoli filling on her hands. Some of the other things that were surprising were lentil salad with a dijon mustard vinaigrette - loved it - peas, and refried beans. She isn't picky yet! I think the chicken was the funniest; it was like the everlasting gobstopper. She sucked the sauce off and then wasn't quite sure how to chew the chicken so she sucked on it for at least 20 minutes. Appetizing, huh?

She's cruising now, not walking just yet. Daycare is still going well, though she's still suffering from the cough that she picked up the first week. The doctor diagnosed her with an ear infection this week, so we're giving her amoxicillin and hope that helps get rid of the cough. We joke around that she's at the advanced level of hand clapping and waving, two big skills that she's very proud to show off. Just this week, she starting pointing and making noise when she wants something specific.

My own big news is that I'm switching jobs - no more travel to Indianapolis after my trip next week. My resignation is effective on June 13, I'm taking a week off, then start a new job on June 23 in Philadelphia. It'll be about 15 minutes to walk to work and the best part is that start time is 9 am so I can do daycare dropoff and not make poor Willa be the first one there. With any luck, we'll both get to sleep in each day.

Now, what you've really come to see: the pictures. Enjoy.

Playing on the patio on May 17. Click on the picture below to see the whole album.

20080517 - Saturday

Garden shots, Willa by the lamp post, Willa eating while Mommy was traveling

20080517 - Garden Baby

Memorial Day (oh yeah, she also likes potato salad, macaroni salad, and baked beans); there are a lot in this photo album because it was a long weekend of partying and picnic-ing.

20080524 - Memorial Day Weekend